February 18, 20192:38 pm

I’m the luckiest DJ I know. I got to interview the love duo that makes up San Francisco’s Love Jerks!!! The last time I saw Rebecca Garza-Bortman she was the better third of Happy Fangs (sorry Michael…love ya), and the last time I saw Bryan Bortman, he was rockin’ out with Scissors for Lefty. Little did I know at that time that these two were worshipping one another from afar. Not only did they meet and fall in love, but their wedding was epic!

Now they have their own band, Love Jerks. The came on last Monday night to talk up their Valentine’s Day show at the Rickshaw Stop. Have you seen their Facebook Page? Have you seen the promotional videos they have made for this gig? These two are the future; you better get on the bus now! They have a new LP out Million Movies (that’s right, VINYL!), which they were kind enough to donate…no payola here, folks. We’re straight on the up and up…now. Buy their music here.

They come on during the second hour and we have lots of fun. Check out the music and the interview, where I really don’t hold back. How many couple have been in bands together just to watch their love come crumbling down? My money is on these two to make it big and to make it last.

February 10, 20192:13 pm

Stream the Head Banging HERE!Download the Toe Tapping HERE!Listen into all my shows here!Subscribe to my show, via iTunes

Some nights I just need to ROCK! And since we have no constraints on what we can or cannot play here at Radio Valencia, I felt obliged to feed my urge. Join me, will you?

WARNING: There is one, I repeat, one polka song. Then again it’s by Polkacide, so I’m forgiven. If you have never witnessed Polkacide live I feel sorry for you. There a band that MUST be seen live to really understand the attraction. Their “final show” (of which I’ve seen more than my fair share) was just days after my son was born, October 8th, 2017. I look forward to their next final show, as I’m confident it will polka hard. Join my in the polka pit and you’ll see what I mean.

Take a look at the playlist below and prepare for a quality neck ache, ala head banging for two sweet hours.

January 10, 201912:33 pm

It’s nice to have a few weeks off to recharge one’s batteries, but considering my weekly show is exactly what I use to recharge my batteries, I felt more empty than ever stepping into the studio on Monday night. True story. I had a few weeks off from work, since I’m a teacher, and you would think I would be traveling the southern continent, or spending many relaxing hours at home, sleeping in late, taking leisurely strolls in my hood. Yeah, you would think that. The truth could not be farther from this. Who am I to complain?

I did buy some tasty vinyl over the break, however. Some rare Grateful Dead, released between 71-75, and some blues LPs that I needed. Yes, needed. I need music. It’s my drug of choice. I was thinking of buying some much-needed shoes over the holidays, but instead I bought a Muddy Waters LP, and a Sony Terry and Brownie McGhee LP. Priorities.

I don’t have any resolutions for the new year. Resolutions are for suckers. I just keep on keepin’ on and let choice be my voice. I should probably cut down on the sugary sweets. Sure, why not? I have switched to black coffee though. No more mocha’s for John Hell! It’s saving me money, which I can put towards my vinyl addiction, er…um obsession.

Speaking of obsession, my playlist is below and the links to the stream and download are above.

December 19, 20189:51 am

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It’s December so it’s time for my obligatory BEST of show…kinda. If anything it’s a chance to play great music! And isn’t that why you tune in week after week? You do tune in, don’t you? That’s interesting. I just realized that I asked “don’t you”, and not “do not you”. Huh.

My show isn’t all about 2018 music, however. Just take a gander at the playlist below and you’ll note the diversity in the sets. Yes folks, we here at Radio Valencia believe the only good radio is diverse radio. Why I play all kinds of diverse genres: metal, heavy metal, death metal, speed metal, stoner metal, and doom metal. Don’t be fooled by our competitors, they only program to the lowest common denominator. We have discovered a way to much much lower.

That being said, there was a lot of great music in 2018. Albums by King Tuff, Oh Sees, Mudhoney, Sleep, and of course a few by Ty Segall, are just a glimpse into what was another stellar year for the indie rock/garage scene.

I encourage you to tune in to Radio Valencia throughout the rest of 2018 for more Best of shows from some of the finest DJs west of East Orange, New Jersey.

I’m taking the next two weeks off to celebrate family and friends. I suggest you do the same. I’ll be scheduling some of my favorite Hell’s Kitchen Radio programs to play in my absence. I encourage you to have it playing in the background during your family celebrations. I’m available for Bar Mitzvah’s too!

Happy Holidaze to you and yours from me, and all of us at Radio Valencia. See you in 2019!

December 8, 201811:21 pm

Sometimes inspiration arrives in the strangest of moments. I was actually about three minutes late for my show tonight. Thanks to Dial-A-Shot for keeping it rockin’ until I arrived. I quickly threw my first tune on, “Porno” by local SF funk-punksters Limbomaniacs (if you saw them back in the 90s then you know), and as I was contemplating my own porn addiction (tongue in cheek, folks, seriously), I thought about what other addictions people are known to enjoy. Hence tonight’s theme: substance use!

Oh the joys of the holidays, when we look for any coping mechanism within reach. So whether it’s tasty treat that is alcohol, aromatic marijuana, a psychedelic journey, cocaine blues, or maybe you’re into the needle, this is the show for you.

November 30, 20182:18 pm

Stream the History HERE!
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Has it been a year already? Who am I kidding, November can’t come fast enough. Seriously, I anxiously await this time of year to comb through the music and media of one specific year to share with you all. This year it took a bit of head scratching to make a final decision. I was considering something from the 80’s when I was a teen, and when I started purchasing music on my own. I would like to thank my brother-from-another-mother, Eric Wilcox for suggesting 1983. Debut records from Metallica, Slayer, Exploited, Suicidal Tendencies, Weird Al, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and so many more!

What did 1983 mean to you? To me it was a very awkward 8th grade (my eighth school in eight years), very poor Bar Mitzvah prep, and my parents marriage falling apart. Yay! It’s also the year that I began noticing more than what was playing on popular radio. I was used to Huey Lewis, Van Halen and ZZ Top, but my friend Etienne was turning me onto bands like Dio, Judas Priest, Ozzy (solo) and Iron Maiden. So I had that going for me.

If you’re interested you can check out the Billboard top whatever here. I do my best to stay away from the hits, though the Donna Summer video was always a favorite of mine. I do talk up some 1983 history and throw some old commercials in there for good measure.

I never have enough time to get through every act I want to, but this will need to suffice. Check out the playlist below, and for Christ’s sake go purchase some of this fine music, and as always go out and see live music from time to time.

Speaking of which, there are some great live shows coming to the Bay Area in the next few weeks. Ty and Denée Segall’s band CIA is playing at El Rio in SF on December 9th, Redd Kross and Dale Crover Band are playing Slims on December 19th, and the Melvins have announced a show at Cornerstone Brewery in Berkeley for January 21st. For more info on live shows coming to town check out THE LIST, which has been my go-to since it was in print form many moons ago.

November 5, 201810:43 am

If you find yourself face to face with Satan and you were asked what scares you most, what would you say? Would you claim the briar patch? Dark chocolate and caramel scare the bejeezus outta me! And cats. Soft, cuddly cats, who purr and want to sleep on my lap. *shiver* Don’t even get me started about a shopping spree at my favorite local record stores. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!

You think Satan would see right through that? Maybe they would turn my favorite things into something I would retch about later. Great! Maybe I’ll spend eternity in time management workshops?

I bet I would get some really creative costume ideas if I spent some time in Hell. I feel like my costume vessel is pretty empty these days. A number of years ago I took the position that whatever you choose to be for Halloween you should be a dead version of it. I’ve been a dead hockey player, a dead judge, dead Jesus (cross and all. There’s a longer story there), dead bartender, dead cab driver, dead hippy, and dead Deadhead.

Tonight I come to you as a very alive DJ. This week’s show kind of writes itself. There is almost too many Halloween-themed songs out there to share. My job is to curate the perfect two-hour set for your enjoyment. I think I get close. It’s scary and silly enough to keep you interested, and I even try my hand at delivering a few mic breaks in verse.

Don’t be afraid of the afterlife, when life is scary enough. These are trying times my friends. We need to hold one another closer than ever before. And please remember to VOTE next Tuesday, November 6th. The future of our world is really depending on you. I recommend you vote Democrat (I’m Independent) to balance out the branches at the federal level. Trump doesn’t need a blank check.

October 24, 201810:19 am

If there is something I detest, it’s when I hear a disingenuous commercial DJ, who claims to just LOVE the new Foo Fighters. Really? You love the new Foo Fighters do you? Really? Really? No you don’t. And if you do, then you either have absolutely no taste and no life, or so deeply consumed the Flavor Aid (yes it was Flavor Aid at Jonestown NOT Kool-Aid) that you cannot see the damage all those years under the corporate thumb has done to you. Get out while you still can.

I invited a top local commercial rock DJ to come on my show a few years back, under an assumed name, to play the music they would love to play during their day job but cannot. They turned me down, claiming that they have no need to because they just LOVE The Eagles! I think they were being honest. Poor bastard.

Starting in 2007, I was lucky enough to recruit the late, great Michael “M-Dung” Slavko to join me on both FCCFreeRadio and then at Radio Valencia. He took me up on both, knowing that he would have a chance to take his professionally-honed radio chops and push it to the edge on a non-com. Dung is the number one reason I found myself hungry for a radio career. His morning show on KFOG (when that station had BALLS) was stuff of legend back in the 80s, pre-Stern and the vomit-laden Shock-Jock radio era. Dung Boy was much too classy for that crap. This year Dung was inducted into the Bay Area Radio Hall of Fame. You are dearly missed, Dung Baby. B-DAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

One more note about Dung, when I was 16 I got into Wolfgang’s nightclub in North Beach, owned by the late rock promoter Bill Graham (his birth name was Wolfgang). Dung was hosting the weekly “Sunday Night Idiot Show” there on this particular night. He featured a Dung sound-a-like contest that evening, and I jumped at the chance to show him my Dung-ness. I didn’t win, but he appeared to be pretty impressed with my impersonation, as well as my ability to get into a 21+ club at the tender age of 16.

I don’t play The Eagles on my show.

I do feature a Velvet Underground set (two covers and Lou solo), newish Boss Hog and Qui, a harrowing tale from Spiderman, and more Bongwater than you can gurgle. Or is it gargle?

Anyway, this one is for all you classic rockers who need to go back to school.

October 17, 20188:53 am

Sometimes when I’m hosting my show in the studio it actually feels like you are right there with me. I feel like I’m talking directly to you! I see you on the couch across from the console, watching me watching you, and I get excited to share my music with you, right then, right there.

That’s how it felt on Monday night.

Starting off with the some contemporary genius’ of the garage/punk world: Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall, both live from The Chapel in SF. These two tracks, back-to-back show you me current mood: kinetic and frenetic. I’ve got a lot of energy to shed and share.

Throughout the night it’s a mix of old and new, punk, funk and junk. You know, just as always. And only two cover tunes this week!

I was considering hosting a power trio special, but I want to take a few more weeks to prepare. Stay tuned. I’m also reminded that November is coming, which means my 8th annual Annual Annual is right around the corner. Which year should I focus on this time around. If you want to see my previous Annual Annual shows take a look here. Scroll down that page and find the links you seek.

In the meantime I’m just going to relax and picture you on the couch in front of the console doing lovely and nasty things to yourself as I play DJ.

October 10, 20182:28 pm

How old were you when you fell in love with music? Do you remember your first love? Who was it? The Beatles? Sinatra? Led Zeppelin? Patsy Cline? Who spoke to you? What did they say? Why did it resonate so deeply?

When I was eight years old in 1978, my aunt bought me four KISS LPs: Rock and Roll Over, Love Gun, Alive 2, and Double Platinum. I was hooked from the first grunt. I couldn’t get enough of the imagery and the riffs. And yes, I fantasized that I was Peter Criss singing “Beth” to my imaginary girlfriend. I joined the KISS Army, dressed as either Gene Simmons or Paul Stanley for consecutive Halloween’s, and overjoyed when I found a discarded copy of Destroyer laying on the street, still in playable condition (playable for a ten year old, anyway). I had posters that covered my walls, and like all of my friends, strongly anticipated the broadcast of “KISS Meets the Phantom Of The Park“.

They are the first band that I wanted to know everything about. Where they were from? What they did before they were a band (Gene Simmons was a school teacher!!!)? Why they chose KISS as a band name? Why they didn’t stick with Wicked Lester? Of course everyone wanted to catch a glimpse of them out of makeup. But I could not hide my disappointment when they decided to ditch the makeup altogether in 1983. What the hell was that all about? Even before the unmasking, the band had moved so far away from their riff-centric rock, full of stories about partying down and getting the girl, and I had discovered another band that would hold my attention, and continues to do so.

When I was 8 or 9, around 1978 or 1979, I was introduced to The Beatles. I was floored. I jumped ship a year or two later from KISS to the Fab Four, and honestly I felt like I was breaking up with someone. I didn’t know at that tender age that I was allowed to have more than one favorite band. Shortly thereafter I added Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead to my ever-growing list of faves. After that the flood gates were open. I started buying my own records when I was 13, and my collection grew by leaps and bounds.

Though much of my record library consisted of what would be “classic rock” by today’s standards, I was really proud of what I had amassed in just a few short years. It wasn’t just quantity in my mind, it was quality too. I joined KFJC in late 1988 and tired very quickly of what was sitting, collecting dust, in my own library. I hungered for more. More genres, more obscure artists, more “classics” waiting to be discovered. In 2010 I purged about 5000 LPs that were taking up too much space in my home and my psyche. Most of this music could be heard on any commercial radio station anyway, so why would I hold onto it all? What I kept (about 1000 LPs) and what I continue to purchase is inspired by my time in non-commercial radio and local artists.

There are too many musical gems waiting to be encountered by the masses. I continue to be involved in radio to share my discoveries with you. Take a look at the playlist below, and all of my playlists. Much of what you see, you have never heard before. Give it a listen. If I play it that means I like it enough to want to share it with you. Hopefully you will like it enough to support that artist. Buy their music. See them live.